Yemen parliament speaker highlights importance of implementing Riyadh Agreement

Yemen parliament speaker highlights importance of implementing Riyadh Agreement
US Ambassador to Yemen Christopher Henzel (C) met with Yemen’s Parliament Speaker Sultan Al-Barkani (R). (Saba New)
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Updated 24 July 2020
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Yemen parliament speaker highlights importance of implementing Riyadh Agreement

Yemen parliament speaker highlights importance of implementing Riyadh Agreement
  • The power-sharing agreement was signed last year in November
  • Hansel said the US will work with partners to end the war in Yemen

DUBAI: Yemen’s parliament speaker highlighted the importance of implementing the Riyadh Agreement to restore balance in the war-torn country, state news agency Saba New reported.

Parliament speaker, Sultan Al-Barakani, discussed on Thursday his government’s efforts to unify the anti-Houthi coalition to confront the militia with US ambassador to Yemen, Christopher Henzel.

Henzel said the US will work with partners to end the war in Yemen and expressed support for the Riyadh Agreement.

The power-sharing agreement was signed last year in November between the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and the Yemeni government after government forces and troops loyal to the STC clashed last summer.

Meanwhile, the European Union announced that it had sent over 220 tons of aid to Yemen and will allocate an additional $81 million for assistance, Saba New reported.

The aid package includes “medical and other essential supplies,” an EU statement said.

Coronavirus continues to spread in several governorates in Yemen as the country’s battered medical sector is unable to deliver, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) said earlier this month.

The country only has six labs where coronavirus can be tested, which according to the IOM hides the impact of the disease.

“Lack of access to soap and water means the illness can spread faster,” a report by the IOM said. 

The country also lacks ventilators and PCR tests, official spokesman for the Supreme Emergency Committee for Combating Coronavirus Ishraq Al-Siba’i told Saba New last month